Can't tell if my symptoms are anxiety related

[popejoan]

My biggest fear is cancer and these days I convinced myself I have bowel cancer, I also think I might have ovarian or uterine cancer as I have both rectal bleeding and bleeding between periods.

I'm soo tired these days, I need at least 9 hours sleep and I have very bad shortness of breath. I literally can't breathe sometimes, I also feel nauseous constantly and I have no appetite at all. I also have no energy and even after using the stairs my heart beats so fast and I can't catch my breath.

According to my recent blood test I have normal iron, excellent hemoglobin but very low ferritin levels which might include there is an internal bleeding going on, it's not from my stomach as I had an endoscopy so I'm pretty sure it's something sinister in bowels.

I won't be able to get tested until 29th or 30th of December as my Gp wasn't concerned enough to refer me with a fast track which is just because of my age as I show all the other symptoms including change in bowel movements and thin stools.

I really don't know how I will wait until then and don't know how to deal with this horrible fatigue :(

[Fishmanpa]

So "when" your bloods come back clear, and I say when because every indication points to anxiety, will you look into treating the illness you do have?

Being on constant red alert stresses your body and causes fatigue. You're hyper-sensitive to every niggle and your mind is working overtime trying to process normal every day activities and responsibilities while simultaneously thinking about your fears. It's exhausting. Feeling depressed due to the stress is not uncommon and adds to the fatigue. That and the the fact you're posting on this forum leads one to believe deep down you know this is anxiety.

Your doctor isn't concerned and if he was, you would have been referred. Get your test and also talk about your fears. Get a referral for counseling and possibly meds to help.

Positive thoughts

[popejoan]

Thank you, I'm actually having therapy (it's been 6 sessions) and just signed up for a yoga class, I've been taking good supplements and been on a healthy diet for about 3 months.
Maybe I'm being too impatient and thinking these should have been working by now and I should be feeling better now but I'm getting worse :(
Also, having low ferritin despite the healthy diet scares me so much. I didn't want to take any prescribed medicine for my anxiety because I didn't want to be dependent on them and I've been taking 'kalms' tablets but maybe I need something stronger than that...
Anyway thanks again for you reply.

[Fishmanpa]

Healing from anxiety disorder is not like healing from a cold or bug. It takes time. Recovery is measured in weeks and months as opposed to days. It's not unlike recovery from a serious illness. Heck, I'm 20 months post treatment for cancer and I know it's years to recovery physically.

Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. It doesn't come and go and gets progressively worse. If indeed what you've been experiencing was sinister, you would be very ill by now.

Keep going to therapy, perhaps print out a few of your threads to show the doctor and inquire about meds or a chill pill.

Positive thoughts and good luck!

[popejoan]

Thanks so much for your help and hope your post treatment is going all well, I will talk to my doctor for meds and won't be impatient

[toria]

Hi I have previously had low ferritin many times and my symptoms were similar to yours very tired eyes felt heavy and stinging breathlessness, tiredness like you can't explain lightheadness etc, I get given iron tabs and they check again after a few months they never seem worried about it and I have had low ferritin lots of times I can tell when its getting low think lots af women have this problem and if you are having bleeding that will make it worse but doesn't mean anything is wrong could be piles or a litter tear I have also had both, I currently had a smear test which came back borderline but couldn't detected hpv so have to have a repeat test in 6 months, please try not to worry we also connect all symptoms together and think we have something terrible but honestly liw ferritin makes you feel terrible hopes that helps a bit xx

[almamatters]

My biggest fear is cancer and these days I convinced myself I have bowel cancer, I also think I might have ovarian or uterine cancer as I have both rectal bleeding and bleeding between periods.

I'm soo tired these days, I need at least 9 hours sleep and I have very bad shortness of breath. I literally can't breathe sometimes, I also feel nauseous constantly and I have no appetite at all. I also have no energy and even after using the stairs my heart beats so fast and I can't catch my breath.

According to my recent blood test I have normal iron, excellent hemoglobin but very low ferritin levels which might include there is an internal bleeding going on, it's not from my stomach as I had an endoscopy so I'm pretty sure it's something sinister in bowels.

I won't be able to get tested until 29th or 30th of December as my Gp wasn't concerned enough to refer me with a fast track which is just because of my age as I show all the other symptoms including change in bowel movements and thin stools.

I really don't know how I will wait until then and don't know how to deal with this horrible fatigue :(

I can't advice much on the anxiety side at the moment as I am going through a bad episode myself, but I work in health and I know a lot of people who have been diagnosed with serious illnesses. The GP's knew from talking to them that there symptoms etc warranted urgent investigation and they have been seen very quickly. I know the waiting is difficult, I seem to verge from rational to panic stricken in the space of 5 minutes. I hope you are feeling better soon. Fishman does give good logical advice about dealing with HA and our constant need for further tests etc. Take Care. x

[popejoan]

Hi I have previously had low ferritin many times and my symptoms were similar to yours very tired eyes felt heavy and stinging breathlessness, tiredness like you can't explain lightheadness etc, I get given iron tabs and they check again after a few months they never seem worried about it and I have had low ferritin lots of times I can tell when its getting low think lots af women have this problem and if you are having bleeding that will make it worse but doesn't mean anything is wrong could be piles or a litter tear I have also had both, I currently had a smear test which came back borderline but couldn't detected hpv so have to have a repeat test in 6 months, please try not to worry we also connect all symptoms together and think we have something terrible but honestly liw ferritin makes you feel terrible hopes that helps a bit xx

Thank you. I just can't understand how I have normal iron and hemoglobin but low ferritin. I had another blood test 5-6 months ago and it was all fine, it just makes me feel like I'm losing loads of blood but I can't see it all as it's hidden in my stool :( I used to be bulimic and I fully recovered 3 months ago so I thought it should be something sinister as 5-6 months ago I was bulimic, was not eating properly for years but my ferritin was ok, now I'm eating much healthier, having light periods, it shouldn't be low but it is.

I hope the bleeding is something not sinister like tear or piles like you said. And thank you, I didn't know low ferritin could make me feel this bad.

I did have a borderline pap smear test 3 months ago but I had high risk hpv as well. This was the beginning of my health anxiety to be honest. The abnormal cells turned out to be cervical endometriosis. Yours also could be that, if there's no hpv there shouldn't be pre-cancerous cells so don't worry x

---------- Post added at 15:06 ---------- Previous post was at 15:02 ----------

I can't advice much on the anxiety side at the moment as I am going through a bad episode myself, but I work in health and I know a lot of people who have been diagnosed with serious illnesses. The GP's knew from talking to them that there symptoms etc warranted urgent investigation and they have been seen very quickly. I know the waiting is difficult, I seem to verge from rational to panic stricken in the space of 5 minutes. I hope you are feeling better soon. Fishman does give good logical advice about dealing with HA and our constant need for further tests etc. Take Care. x

Thanks so much. The doctor I've been recently seeing is a pretty good one actually, he doesn't just send you home, I think he wasn't too worried because of the normal iron and hemoglobin. Waiting is too difficult, maybe that's another reason why I'm too tired, my mind seems like it doesn't get any rest, I just can't relax and even when sleeping I dream about my symptoms, cancer etc. When I was worried about stomach cancer I had dreams when I was vomiting blood.

It should be difficult to have HA and working in health. Hope you feel better soon as well x

[almamatters]

Hi PopeJoan, I'm glad the Dr is at least listening to your concerns, if you are like me the anxiety and worry will make you feel worn out. It can be difficult having HA and working in health, it all depends on my state of mind on the day. I know GP's can tell a lot from blood tests when I went for a colonoscopy they were not concerned about my symptoms as I had normal blood results and the same went I went for a ultrasound on my liver. I have health concerns at the minute and blood results are back today and they are normal but I am still being referred for a scan. Hope you are ok. x

[popejoan]

Hi Almamatters, I think we are very similar, there isn't just one second that I could stop worrying and relax. I went to a massage last week and there was a sauna there which I love, I felt 'almost' relaxed but even there I was still worrying about symptoms. I'm glad that all your blood results are normal, it must be a huge relief, mine are normal too apart from ferritin, I just can't stop thinking about it because unfortunately I googled it and now convinced myself that my bowels are bleeding from a tumor :( Hope everything goes well and you should let us know about the results. Thank you x